The Pittsburgh Penguins were hosting the New York Rangers in a game before Christmas. Pens winger Jason Zucker shot a puck wide of the net.
Like a basketball player crashing the glass for a rebound after a missed jumper, Zucker zipped beneath the goal line to track down the loose puck himself before anyone else could get to it. That extended a shift in the offensive end, which eventually led to a Rangers penalty, which eventually led to a Pens power-play goal.
Which eventually led to a Penguins 3-2 victory.
“He’s phenomenal at that,” teammate Bryan Rust would say of Zucker after that game. “That makes him such a good player. He gets in on the forecheck and separates the puck from defensemen. And then he can make plays.”
It was just one example on a night where Zucker’s hustle and tenacity repeatedly impacted the game, even if the box score only showed him gathering one assist.
“He has the ability to drag us into the fight,” coach Mike Sullivan said of Zucker that night. “With his energy, his competitiveness, he plays the game with a little bit of reckless abandon. Getting in on the forecheck. Using his skating and his edge to wreak havoc.”
For a stretch this year, the only thing Zucker wasn’t doing was scoring. Between Nov. 20 and Dec. 27, Zucker had just one goal over 14 games. That trend has changed lately, though. Zucker has four goals in his last six games, an important element to sprinkle in with his usual grit and puck-retrieval skills when he’s getting top-6 minutes.
“I’m still trying to get better,” Zucker said Tuesday night after a 5-4 win over the Vancouver Canucks. “My expectations for myself are higher than anyone else’s. I’m trying to work on my game and mesh with (Evgeni Malkin) and (Rickard Rakell). Whether it’s Raks or (Rust), we are trying to keep our line going and be a threat every night.”
The uptick in offensive production was evident when Zucker had a goal and an assist as part of Tuesday’s win over Vancouver.
We've got some knuckle puck action from Jason Zucker! pic.twitter.com/FjTESZCiT0
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 11, 2023
MALKAMANIA IN THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH! pic.twitter.com/Qx4kq6Boib
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 11, 2023
Zucker also delivered a bone-crunching, legal hit on Conor Garland.
“He’s a high-energy guy,” said defenseman Ty Smith after the game. “It’s good to see him produce. He’s always playing physical. It’s kind of contagious.”
Consistent, year-long productivity is something the Pens crave from Zucker. Highly thought of as a guy who could float anywhere between the top-3 lines, injuries have often derailed the 30-year-old forward, just as he gets into a groove. Zucker is now up to 10 goals and 16 assists this year. After being acquired before the trade deadline in 2020 from the Minnesota Wild, those are high-water marks for Zucker as a Penguin.
According to Sullivan, Zucker has plenty of scoring touch. But it’s what he does to put Malkin and Rakell into scoring positions that really makes him valuable.
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“He creates a lot of stalled pucks and loose pucks in the offensive zone that give Geno and Raks an opportunity to do what they do best. For me, in a lot of ways, Zucks is the catalyst there, because of his straight-ahead game and the edge that he plays with,” Sullivan said Tuesday.
It appears it will be much harder to make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference than last year. The Pens enjoyed a 19-point cushion in 2022. So far, they are nestled in as the last wild-card team in the East by just one point over the New York Islanders.
For their sake, hopefully Zucker can stay healthy and productive enough to drag them through that fight as well.
